Nuclear imagery in film, 1980-1985

Before the development of the atomic bomb, the unknown was a successful element of drama. Horror films of the 1950s showed the movie audience a multitude of monsters that were the result of exposure to radiation. The results of radiation and atomic warfare have been incorporated into films of a variety of genres to the present day. This paper will discuss the images that nuclear warfare and the "mushroom cloud" have taken in a select group of films produced in the five-year period 1980-1985.Chairman: Eric Smoodin.